make

English Online Dictionary. What means make‎? What does make mean?

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /meɪk/, [meɪkʲ]
• (Canada) IPA^(key): [meːk]
• Rhymes: -eɪk

Etymology 1

From Middle English maken, from Old English macian (“to make, build, work”), from Proto-West Germanic *makōn (“to make, build, work”), from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂ǵ- (“to knead, mix, make”).

Related to match.

Alternative forms

• mak (Wearside, Durham, dialectal)
• makee (pronunciation spelling)
• myek (Geordie, dialectal)

Verb

make (third-person singular simple present makes, present participle making, simple past and past participle made or (dialectal or obsolete) maked)

1. (transitive) To create.
   1. To build, construct, produce, or originate.

      Synonyms: fabricate; see also Thesaurus:build
   2. To write or compose.

   3. To bring about; to effect or produce by means of some action.

   4. (religious) To create (the universe), especially (in Christianity) from nothing.
   5. (transitive) To prepare (food); to cook (food).

2. (intransitive, now mostly colloquial) To behave, to act.

3. (intransitive) To tend; to contribute; to have effect; with for or against.
4. To constitute.
   • 1995, Harriette Simpson Arnow: Critical Essays on Her Work, p.46:

     Style alone does not make a writer.
5. (transitive) To add up to, have a sum of.

6. (transitive, construed with of, typically interrogative) To interpret.

7. (transitive, usually stressed) To bring into success.
8. (ditransitive, second object is an adjective or participle) To cause to be.

   Synonym: render
9. To cause to appear to be; to represent as.
   • 1709–1710, Thomas Baker, Reflections on Learning

     He is not that goose and Ass that Valla would make him.
10. (ditransitive, second object is a verb) To cause (to do something); to compel (to do something).
11. (ditransitive, second object is a verb, can be stressed for emphasis or clarity) To force to do.

12. (ditransitive, of a fact) To indicate or suggest to be.

14. (transitive, of a bed) To cover neatly with bedclothes.
15. (transitive, US slang, crime, law enforcement) To recognise, identify, spot.

    Synonyms: twig, notice; see also Thesaurus:identify

    • 2004, George Nolfi et al., Ocean's Twelve, Warner Bros. Pictures, 0:50:30:

      Linus Caldwell: Well, she just made Danny and Yen, which means in the next 48 hours the three o' your pictures are gonna be in every police station in Europe.

    • 2007 May 4, Andrew Dettmann et al., "Under Pressure", episode 3-22 of Numb3rs, 00:01:16:

      David Sinclair: (walking) Almost at Seventh; I should have a visual any second now. (rounds a corner, almost collides into Kaleed Asan) Damn, that was close.
      Don Eppes: David, he make you?
      David Sinclair: No, I don't think so.

16. (transitive, colloquial) To arrive at a destination, usually at or by a certain time.
17. (intransitive, colloquial) To proceed (in a direction).
18. (transitive) To cover (a given distance) by travelling. [from 16^thc.]
19. (transitive) To move at (a speed). [from 17^thc.]

20. To appoint; to name.
21. (transitive, slang) To induct into the Mafia or a similar organization (as a made man).
22. (intransitive, colloquial, euphemistic) To defecate or urinate.
23. (transitive) To earn, to gain (money, points, membership or status).
24. (transitive) To pay, to cover (an expense); chiefly used after expressions of inability.
    • 1889 May 1, Chief Justice George P. Raney, Pensacola & A. R. Co. v. State of Florida (judicial opinion), reproduced in The Southern Reporter, Volume 5, West Publishing Company, p.843:

      Whether, […], the construction of additional roads […] would present a case in which the exaction of prohibitory or otherwise onerous rates may be prevented, though it result in an impossibility for some or all of the roads to make expenses, we need not say; no such case is before us.
25. (obsolete, intransitive) To compose verses; to write poetry; to versify.
    • ca.1360-1387, William Langland, Piers Plowman

      to solace him some time, as I do when I make

26. To enact; to establish.
    • 1791, The First Amendment to the United States Constitution:

      Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

27. To develop into; to prove to be.

28. To form or formulate in the mind.

29. To perform a feat.
30. (intransitive) To gain sufficient audience to warrant its existence.

31. (obsolete) To act in a certain manner; to have to do; to manage; to interfere; to be active; often in the phrase to meddle or make.
32. (obsolete) To increase; to augment; to accrue.
33. (obsolete) To be engaged or concerned in.
34. (now archaic) To cause to be (in a specified place), used after a subjective what.
35. (transitive, euphemistic) To take the virginity of.
36. (transitive) To have sexual intercourse with.

    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:copulate with
37. (intransitive) Of water, to flow toward land; to rise.
38. (transitive, backgammon) To establish two or more men on (a point) so that it cannot be captured.

Usage notes

• In older forms of English, when the pronoun thou was in active use, and verbs used -est for distinct second-person singular indicative forms, the verb make had the form makest, and had madest for its past tense.
• Similarly, when the ending -eth was in active use for third-person singular present indicative forms, the form maketh was used.

Conjugation

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• Appendix:Collocations of do, have, make, and take

Noun

make (plural makes)

2. Brand; marque; manufacturer; maker.

   Coordinate term: model

   Near-synonyms: kind, type

4. Manner or style of construction (style of how a thing is made).

   Near-synonyms: makeup, form, conformation, composition; form factor
6. Origin (of a manufactured article); manufacture; production.

8. A person's character or disposition.
10. (dated) The act or process of making something, especially in industrial manufacturing.

    Synonyms: making, manufacture, manufacturing, production

    Hypernym: creation
12. (uncountable) Quantity produced, especially of materials.

    Synonyms: production, output
14. (computing) A software utility for automatically building large applications, or an implementation of this utility.
16. (slang) Identification: recognition (of identity), especially from police records or evidence.

    Synonym: ID
18. (slang, military) A promotion.
20. A homemade project.
21. (card games) Turn to declare the trump for a hand (in bridge), or to shuffle the cards.
    • 1962 (edition), Leo Tolstoy, Hadji Murat: A Tale of the Caucasus:

      'Not your make,' said the adjutant sternly and started dealing the cards with his white be-ringed hands as though he was in haste to get rid of them.

23. (basketball) A made basket.
25. (physics) The closing of an electrical circuit.

    Synonyms: completion, actuation

    Antonym: break

Related terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English make, imake, ȝemace, from Old English ġemaca (“a mate, an equal, companion, peer”), from Proto-West Germanic *gamakō, from Proto-Germanic *gamakô (“companion, comrade”), from Proto-Indo-European *maǵ- (“to knead, oil”). Reinforced by Old Norse maki (“an equal”).

Cognate with Icelandic maki (“spouse”), Swedish make (“spouse, husband”), Danish mage (“companion, fellow, mate”). Doublet of match.

Noun

make (plural makes)

1. (slang, usually in phrase "easy make") Past, present, or future target of seduction (usually female).
2. (UK, dialectal) Mate; a spouse or companion; a match.
   • 1678 (later reprinted: 1855), John Ray, A Hand-book of Proverbs:

     Every cake hath its make; but a scrape cake hath two.

Derived terms

• make-hawk
• on the make
• put the make on

Etymology 3

Uncertain.

Alternative forms

• meck (Scotland)

Noun

make (plural makes)

1. (Scotland, Ireland, Northern England, now rare) A halfpenny. [from 16th c.]
   • 1934, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Grey Granite, Polygon 2006 (A Scots Quair), page 606:

     Only as he climbed the steps did he mind that he hadn't even a meck upon him, and turned to jump off as the tram with a showd swung grinding down to the Harbour […]

Etymology 4

Origin unclear.

Noun

make (plural makes)

1. (East Anglia, Essex, obsolete) An agricultural tool resembling a scythe, used to cut (harvest) certain plants such as peas, reeds, or tares.
   • 1811, William Gooch, General view of the agriculture of the county of Cambridge; drawn up for the consideration of the Board of Agriculture and Internal Improvement, page 142, section VI "Pease":

     Harvest. Taken up by a pease-make, and left in small heaps, and turned as often as the weather may make it necessary.

References

• “make”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “make”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

See also

• make-koshi (etymologically unrelated)

Anagrams

• kame, meak

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmaːkə/

Verb

make

1. (dated or formal) singular present subjunctive of maken

Hawaiian

Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *mate, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *m-atay, *atay, from Proto-Austronesian *m-aCay, *aCay (compare Cebuano matay, Chamorro matai, Fijian mate, Ilocano matay, Indonesian mati, Javanese mati, Kapampangan mate, mete, Malagasy maty, Maori mate, Rapa Nui mate, Tagalog matay, Tahitian mate).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈma.ke/, [ˈmɐ.ke]

Noun

make

1. death
2. peril

Verb

make

1. (stative) to die; dead
2. (stative) to faint

Japanese

Romanization

make

1. Rōmaji transcription of まけ

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English maca, ġemaca, from Proto-West Germanic *makō, *gamakō, from Proto-Germanic *makô. Compare macche (“bride, equal”).

Alternative forms

• mac, mak, ymake
• ȝemace, imake (Early Middle English)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmaːk(ə)/, /ˈmak(ə)/, /iˈmaːk(ə)/

Noun

make (plural makes or (early) imaken)

1. A bride or mate; a romantic partner.
2. A lover; a sexual partner.
3. An equal or match.
4. A comrade or companion.
5. (rare) A competitor or opponent.

Derived terms

• makeles

Descendants

• English: make (dialectal)
• Scots: make, maik, mak

References

• “imāke, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
• “māke, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

A back-formation from maken.

Alternative forms

• mak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmaːk(ə)/, /ˈmak(ə)/, /iˈmaːk(ə)/

Noun

make (uncountable)

1. make (manner of manufacture or design)
2. (rare) effort, behaviour

Descendants

• English: make
• Scots: mak

References

• “māke, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 3

Verb

make

1. Alternative form of maken
   • late 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Knight's Tale, The Canterbury Tales, line 1053-1054:

Moore

Etymology

Compare Farefare makɛ

Pronunciation

/má.kè/

Verb

make

1. to measure, to weigh
2. to compare oneself with

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse maki.

Noun

make m (definite singular maken, indefinite plural maker, definite plural makene)

1. a mate (especially animals and birds), a spouse
2. an equal, match, peer
3. one of a pair (e.g. shoe, sock)
4. something that is similar or alike

Derived terms

• ektemake
• har du sett på maken

References

• “make” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse maki.

Noun

make m (definite singular maken, indefinite plural makar, definite plural makane)

1. a mate (especially animals and birds), a spouse
2. an equal, match, peer
3. one of a pair (e.g. shoe, sock)
4. something that is similar or alike

Derived terms

• ektemake
• har du sett på maken

References

• “make” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Portuguese

Etymology

From English makeup.

Pronunciation

Noun

make m or f (plural makes)

1. (Brazil, informal) makeup (cosmetics and colorants applied to the skin)

   Synonyms: maquilhagem, maquiagem

Swazi

Noun

máke class 1a (plural bómáke class 2a)

1. my mother

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish maki, from Old Norse maki, from Proto-Germanic *makô. Doublet of maka.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɑːˌkɛ/

Noun

make c

1. (slightly archaistic or formal) a spouse, a husband, a married man (mostly referring to a specific relation)

   Synonym: man

2. something alike, likes

Declension

See also

• like

References

• make in Svenska Akademiens ordböcker

Tabaru

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈma.ke]

Verb

make

1. (transitive) to see
2. (transitive) to meet
3. (transitive) to find, come across

   womimake ― he found her

References

• Edward A. Kotynski (1988) “Tabaru phonology and morphology”, in Work Papers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session, volume 32, Summer Institute of Linguistics